The joys of being a mom…

Yesterday, just as I was about to eat my lunch (hadn’t eaten anything yet, was too busy to eat breakfast), my phone rang. I saw that it was Dobby, who had just left for school, and thought maybe she had forgotten something. I steeled myself for the inevitable argument – I’m pretty firm that if she forgets something she’s on her own now that she’s in college – and picked up the phone. Here is the beginning of the conversation:

Me: “Hello?”

Dobby: “Mom? MOM! I JUST REAR-ENDED SOMEONE! YOU HAVE TO COME NOW!!”

Me: “Are you okay?”

Dobby: “YES!!”

Me: (well, I knew her LUNGS were okay at that point) “Okay, well, first you need to calm down…”

…and that’s when the screaming started. *sigh* Apparently, telling her to calm down ‘made everything worse’ and she started yelling even more. Thank GSD the officer on the scene calmed her down and the people in front of her were calm about it or who knows what would have happened to her.

So, of course, I (unshowered and unfed) jumped in the Jeep to go rescue her. When I got there, everyone else was gone and the car appeared driveable so she followed me home. Thankfully, it was an uneventful trip and she kept at least three car lengths between us the entire time. ;o)

When we got back, the first thing she said to me was, “Mom…are you mad?” I did what any quick-thinking mom would do and answered, “no…just disappointed.” Which is the truth. I’m not sure how much she is truly at fault since the person at the front of the line was only 18 and odds are she slammed on the brakes to make a last minute turn. I’m also trying to remind myself that she’s had her license for two years and it could have been worse. She could have gotten into an accident the day she got her license. ;o) Dobby then got to see me GET mad when I tried to reach the insurance company and the agent and couldn’t get a person on the line (which, btw, is why I’m SWITCHING) and then had to jump through all the lovely hoops they put in front of you when your daughter gets in a car accident while driving a car that is still in your name. Fun times.

Want to see the damage?

It’s better than it was. Roger put on his ‘hillbilly body shop’ hat last night and bent it back mostly to where it was pre-impact (you should have seen him jumping up and down on the bumper, it was pretty funny…sorry I forgot the camera). Dobby will be calling the junkyard today to see if she can get a new headlight. I’m sure a new car is in the cards for her eventually but what’s the point getting her a new car now right before it starts snowing? She might as well beat the hell out of this one for a few more months…

It definitely could have been worse. I was pretty hard on the family cars the first couple of years I was driving. Damage is definitely not as bad as I expected. Good thing you have hillbilly car repair handy.

Oy, the call every parents dreads and knows will come eventually. I’ve got two daughters who are new drivers…. the son already did his rear-end thing a few yrs ago….. Not that I wasn’t the perfect teenage driver (cough,cough). SO GLAD she ‘s okay. Now she’s pre-disastered, right?

I cringe every time the phone rings and I know one of them has the car :o(

Heh. I was in an accident BEFORE I even had my license! The driver’s ed car (yes, with the huge sign on the back) got rear ended while I was driving. It wasn’t my fault, but it happened on a saturday night at 6pm in the busiest intersection in my not very large town. Monday morning the whole high school knew about it! I was so embarrassed.

Thing is, ime *everybody* has to have at least one accident due to driving too close/not paying attention/pulling out too fast/other venial vehicular sins. I had at least two that I can think of. So now she has (with luck) gotten it out of her system. I’m glad she’s OK.

Last spring, driving Miss B to her ballet recital, I stopped fairly short due to not seeing a pedestrian until I was very close to the crosswalk (there was unusual traffic due to construction) and was promptly rear-ended by a young driver who was obviously driving her mom’s car. Luckily my van was entirely undamaged and hers had very minor damage. Miss B was a little freaked out but had calmed down by curtain time. I was of course only obeying the law, and the other driver was absolutely at fault, but I still felt bad for her.

I’m so glad her lungs and the rest of her are okay! My first accident took place with my mother in the car. Luckily, it wasn’t my fault. I got rear-ended by a tourist. Wow. That makes it sounds like I’ve been in a lot of accidents! It’s only been two!

02-03-2016

I don’t know if this project will stay here, but I wanted a spot to put all of my photos for the current sampler I’m cross stitching.

02-03-2016

I’ve put this on ‘hibernating’ status since I’m trying to decide what to do - I kind of want to pick my favorite 6 and make a mini sampler since there are some books in the mix that aren’t my favorites